Thank you for coming today to the launch of the
Kiwi Immigration Watch.

New Zealand has always been a
place where people from other nationalities plant their
lives and their talents in the soil of this young country,
Aotearoa New Zealand.

Many of you have followed other
great men and women who have migrated from their homelands
to new countries all over the world, and history is full of
their amazing stories and the significant contributions they
have made in their new adopted nation.

The tradition of
being adopted into a new family, a new culture, and a new
nation goes back to the earliest records of human
civilisation.

The Judeo-Christian tradition which
stretches back 3500 years to the time of Moses has much to
say about how we should treat foreigners, sojourners, and
aliens in our midst.

Tangata Whenua have a word:
Manakitanga.

Manakitanga is everything they will say.
Mana is very important. Manakitanga is the duty and
privilege of every one who hosts visitors. They value the
importance of hospitality. A mans Mana will be measured by
how much he displays manakitanga, how hospitable he is to
strangers and visitors. This tikanga, this custom runs very
deep within Maori society, and it runs very deep within
these Judeo-Christian values that the Kiwi Party is based
upon.

We are nothing if we do not take care for others,
show hospitality to strangers, help the weak, and care for
the orphans widows and strangers in our land.

That is why
the Kiwi Party is very pleased to get behind the launch
today of this initiative called the Kiwi Immigration
Watch.

We are very disturbed and ashamed of the reports we
hear of how many of the people legitimately arriving here in
New Zealand are being treated by Immigration Services.

It
seems to us that somewhere along the way, Immigration
Services has forgotten that they are, (for the most part)
New Zealands first point of contact with people who are
seeking a new home for themselves and their families.

We
accept that there is a need for some rules and regulations
and procedures around Immigration, however we also believe
that there is a need to remember Manakitanga, and
hospitality that includes treating people honestly, with
dignity and respect.

Kiwi Immigration Watch is designed to
shine a light on reports of:

o Alleged corruption in
some of our foreign embassies.

o The inefficiency of
our departments and offices here in NZ.

o The loss
of passports, the long delays, and requests for more
information after applicants have previously supplied all
information requested.

o Medical examinations that
seem to go on for ever, and often make little sense.

o
English language tests that arrive at bizarre results,
failing people who have a very good proficiency in spoken
English.

o Families separated for lengthy periods,
while paper work shifts from one bureaucratic desk to
another.

The Kiwi Party says that Immigration Services
is failing to show Manakitanga, and has lost its Mana.

On
a personal level, I was recently made aware of a family who
have obtained New Zealand Residency.

A husband and wife
with three children, wishing to bring a fourth child out
from their home country to live with them, a six year old
boy who has downs syndrome.

However, because he has downs
syndrome they have been having all sorts of difficulty
gaining a permit for their own son to come and live with in
Aotearoa NZ.

This case is something I find both appalling,
and a completely unacceptable injustice.

As Leader of the
Kiwi Party (a party I hope will earn the respect of all new
Kiwis in this country), I pledge our support to the Kiwi
Immigration Watch.

We hope that by highlighting the
plight of the voiceless many, we will be able to see justice
done and compassion, true hospitality, manakitanga, flourish
within Immigration Services.

We ask those who work within
Immigration Services to remember that they are public
servants, and that they represent all New Zealanders when
they fulfil the responsibility of being the first point of
contact with immigrants.

I am sure that Kiwi Immigration
Watch will have an important role to play in addressing the
injustices currently occurring, and it is our hope that many
wrongs will be put right, and manakitanga restored to
Immigration Services.

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